Instructions Needed for Scribe Use, Please!

[treesprite]

I got the scribe today, but it came with no instructions. Is there someone here who knows how to use one who could explain it to me? I would like to be able to use it tomorrow if the rink is basically empty.

[Clarice]

I'll try, although perhaps others can do it more concisely.  Open it up so that the black handle is pointing up and the other arm extends along the floor in an L shape.  You're going to hold the handle and rotate it so the pointy end of the scribe sweeps around in a circle, like drawing with a compass.  You're standing in the center of the circle when you do this.  The segments of the drawing arm get extended so that you draw the correct size circle.  The diameter of the circle should be 3x your height, so you're going to have to do a little math.  Multiply your height in inches by 3, then divide by 2 because you're going to need the scribe set for the radius of that circle.  When you set the scribe arm to the correct measurement, it can be helpful to mark the position with a permanent marker so that you can set it up quickly the next time.  I actually have a marker fastened vertically to the end of my scribe so that it draws a black line instead of just inscribing the circle on the ice.  If I'm practicing on freestyle, other skaters are necessarily going to have to keep cutting through my patch and it's easier to see.  If I'm practicing on a public session, people tend to stay off my circles if they can see them - although I've noticed other skaters having a good time trying to trace them when I'm finished!

[treesprite]

Thank you. I figured out how to use it. I remembered rom long ago memory, that the scribe setting (radius)  is supposed to be one and a half times height.

I got to use it today (well,  it's after midnight, so yesterday). The skating director told me to use it on the studio rink (the smallest of the 3 rinks, very small), so I had that little rink to myself  

[FigureSpins]

How is your marker attached to the scribe, Clarice?  Did you buy the "8-Mate" attachment or devise your own method?

http://figureskating.about.com/od/equipment/a/pernatalks_4.htm
http://myweb.wvnet.edu/~marizel/scribe/

[treesprite]

I was wondering this too. The coach who teaches a figures class uses a marker on the circles after they are made (not with a marker on the scribe). It's better than digging a circular rut in the ice.

[blue111moon]

A former coach used duct tape to fasten a marker to the drawing tip of her scribe so the marker drew the line behind the tip. 

Just a note:  the rink guys have complained about some markers soaking into the ice and being visible even after resurfacing.   I guess the extra lines confuse the hockey players. 

[FigureSpins]

I always test markers on a hockey line before I use them.    Permanent markers usually last longer, but the Sharpie King Size Permanents aren't long-lasting.  I bought them because they came in colors, but I end up having to carry 2 because they get used up too quickly.

Crayola washable markers work as well on ice as the permanent markers, but they don't last as long.  They're cheaper though, and wash up easier.  Roseart washable markers bleed deeply into the ice.

BTW, the scribe should NOT "dig a circular rut in the ice."  It's supposed to lay down a light tracing on clean ice.  The problem is that newbies are trying to use it on scratched-up ice and they can't see the tracing, so they go around and around and around until they get a rut.  You have to use the right tool for the job and a scribe on a public sesssion ice is not the right tool.

[Clarice]

I do have an 8-Mate, but before I got it, I just duct-taped the marker to the scribe.  I used giant Avery water-soluble markers then (and still use them for Learn to Skate classes), but those don't fit in the 8-Mate.  I'm still using the permanent marker that came with it, but will be looking for a water-soluble alternative.  Those don't seem to be as much of a problem with leaving marks after resurfacing, and also don't leave indelible stains on people's clothes if they fall on the marks.